There was a time when the best Windows Phone apps just meant the only Windows Phone apps. But the number of Windows Phone apps is now growing by the day, and has recently topped the 60,000 mark. While that’s not quite as many as the app catalogues proffered by Android and iOS – so thick they’d make the Argos catalogue look like a Size Zero – it’s still more than enough to confuse even the most savvy of Windows Phone owners. As such, we’ve decided to do you a favour: we’ve trawled through the Marketplace and hand picked the finest 100 for you.

These are, hands down, the 100 best Windows Phone apps – the ones that you absolutely need in your life and on your phone. All killer, no filler. Read on to get downloading…

YouTube Pro
FreeHow do you get over the major fail of launching a mobile OS without a decent YouTube app? Let a developer make the best YouTube app on any platform. YouTube Pro lets you search, upload and play, but the killer feature is the ability to download any video to your phone, something that you can’t even do on Google’s Android YouTube app.

SpotifyFree (subscription required)
The best-looking iteration of the the music streaming app does have some downfalls (like the inability to scroll to the bottom of long playlists quickly), but look how pretty! Spotify is otherwise fully functional, and brings a much needed shot in the arm for WP7′s list of content. in short: among the best Windows Phone apps on the platform.

Xbox CompanionFree
Like gaming? Or more specifically: do you really like your Xbox? The Companion app lets you see what your friends are up to and keep track of your achievements, but the best feature is the ability to control Xbox playback via your phone. You can also look up background info on whatever movie you’re watching.

FourSquareFree
All the usual check-in and location gubbins you’d expect from an official FourSquare app are present and correct, but with an added bonus: Windows Phone lets you pin tiles for specific places on to the Start screen. Visit your local Costa every day? This app gives you one-touch check-in.

Nokia DriveBuilt-in (Nokia handsets)
Baked into Nokia Windows Phone handsets, Nokia Drive is a top-notch satnav option with 3D landmarks and turn-by-turn voice guidance. Its menus are a breeze to get around and everything feels very intuitive. In short: absolutely faultless for a free piece of software. The only way it can better? Offline-map downloads as Nokia Maps on Symbian currently allows for – we’d expect that to come with time.

British AirwaysFree
If you’re a frequent flyer, you’ll want to check this out: it’s on of the best Windows Phone apps by far. British Airways’ fantastic app not only serves you up a boarding pass for a flight on your homescreen, complete with QR code, it lets you pin individual passes to your homescreen. Even if you’re flying economy, you can still enjoy the ultimate in convenience, even if the air hostess won’t make you a cocktail on request.

Halo WaypointFree Halo Waypoint is an interesting new companion app on Windows Phone, iPhone and Android for Xbox 360 title Halo: Reach, stuffed with map layouts, stats, and a realtime feature called ATLAS that shows’ player locations, ammo drops and more. Whatever you make of using a phone as a second screen for console gaming (We think it’s evil), there’s no denying it’s cheaper on Windows Phone: on iPhone, the ATLAS feature is a £2.99 in-app purchase.

Amazon KindleFree
Amazon’s e-reader app is available on every platform worth even half its salt, but it’s crippled on one of them: iPhone. That’s because Amazon baulked at Apple’s insistence on getting a cut of every single in-app transaction on iOS, and removed the purchase button for the iPhone app. No problems whatsoever on the Windows Phone app: it looks stunning, and you can shop on it too.

eBayFree
That ability to pin anything to the start screen really comes into its own with the eBay Windows Phone app: it turns this into a bargain hunter’s wet dream/worst enemy. You can save individual searches and bids to the start screen, which means if there’s a certain vintage dress or, let’s be honest, rare SNES cartridge you’re after, you can keep a constant look out for it on the move.

WordPressFree
A well thought-out execution of WordPress, bringing all the features in while formatting them into the Metro UI. You’ve got actions (such as creating a new post), comment moderation and site stats. The text entry field doesn’t have WYSIWYG input, but that’s just about the only downside in an otherwise really polished effort.

Sky NewsFree
Sky’s been pretty on it with mobile news apps. The Windows Phone version is no different, offeing much the same in the way of features as its iPhone and Android. That means up-to-date news and video, plus access to the live Sky News feed. Now, if only we had a Sky Go app to go with it…

GuardianFree
News and such like for the far left and liberal, but with a tasty Windows Phone Mango twist. You can pin specific sections (Sport, Entertainment, etc.) to the Start screen and have them update on the go, with headlines rolling in on the live tile, while podcasts can stream and play in the background.

FacebookFree
Ok, so you probably think that the People tile does a fairly good job of being your Facebook app, right? Wrong. Download the Facebook app and you’ll notice that some updates just don’t filter through to the People tile’s ‘What’s New’ section. On top of that there’s everything you’d expect. You can also pin Check-ins to the Start screen.

SeesmicFree
Need a bit more control over your Twitter accounts? If you’re trying to keep track of split personalities or keep your work and personal accounts separate, Seesmic is probably the best way to do so. Soak up your feeds and prime tweets from one, two or as many different accounts as you like in one go.

Plants Vs Zombies£3.99
Right, so… you’ve got to put plants down in your garden and… no hear us out and give it a couple of levels: the mad premise makes for award-winningly good gameplay. Each level is about five minutes long, so it makes for perfect train or bus fodder. This really is one of the best Windows Phone apps available, not just games.

Angry Birds£2.29
You’ve probably heard of this one, so instead of going on about it here’s a haiku: The pigs want some eggs. The eggs taste good in their mouths. The birds are angry. How’s that? You want to know how it plays? Microsoft’s uniform spec requirements for WP7 phones means it runs like liquid silk.

Swipy ManFree
One of the top free apps to hit the Windows phone Marketplace in the early days, Swipy Man isn’t going to wow you in terms of graphical prowess or presentation, but it does sport a maddeningly addictive gameplay mechanic. Guide your swinging (now swiping) man across the void and onto a moving platform. Sound simple? It’s not.

Snake 97£0.79
Good games never stop being fun. Proof comes in the form of this amazing remake of the classic old-school Nokia game Snake. The controls are lovingly recreated as the keypad on an old brick handset and work like a charm. Well worth your 79p.

EndomondoFree
Why spend hundreds of pounds on a running watch when you can get most of the same functionality from a free app? Endomondo is an online community with thousands of members recording their workouts via their phones. Set out running and it’ll track you with GPS and upload the data to your online account.

BaconitFree
Reddit fiends need this app in their life: it’s definitely up there with the best Windows Phone apps. Baconit packs in everything you need: editable sub-reddits, comments and karma. In fact, your account’s karma ranking tallies on the live tile. Just remember: you can’t do anything with it.

iMDBFree
You need to know who that guy is, and what he was in. You think you’ve seen some trashy horror film from the 80s with him in. Who you gonna call? iMDB, probably. The Windows Phone version of the iMDB app is pretty swish, with Metro UI scolling and a bold, image-led design.

Connectivity ShortcutsFree
In a strange UI oversight, it takes a bit of effort getting to the WiFi settings section on Windows Phone. If you’ve come from Android you’ll be used to widgets that let you flick things like WiFi and Bluetooth on and off in a flash. This doesn’t quite get you to that level, but it does speed things along, letting you pin shortcuts to the specific settings to the Start screen. While we’re on the subject, Microsoft, can you show the battery status at all times?

NotesFree
Notes plugs a pretty big gap in the OS for no pennies whatsoever: where’s the damn note-taking app? Notes is speedy and brilliantly straightforward. It also lets you add a location to any of your notes or stick them in an email. Navigating through your a lengthy list is painless, too.

SuperTimerFree
Just as with Notes, newcomers to Windows Phone 7 may be wondering how they’re going to time their eggs. SuperTimer sees to that and then some, adding the ability to store frequently-used timings. There’s a stopwatch with lap functionality too.

Tube MapFree
It’s the exact same app as you’ll see on other platforms, but why fix what ain’t broke? Tube Map brings you the full London Underground map, an accurate and reliable journey planner and live travel news for each line – make sure you check it before you head into the big smoke, especially at weekends when things tend to go horribly wrong.

Pocket RecorderFree
Need to take memos? Pocket Recorder is your best bet as, unlike other Windows Phone apps of its ilk, it runs in the background when the screen times out, meaning you won’t record a world-beating interview only to find out it cut out a minute in. As an added bonus, you can set the app to upload directly to SkyDrive, safely storing it in the cloud.

Ask ZiggyFree
A top notch Siri rival. It’s not quite as polished in the looks department, but Ask Ziggy is fairly well stocked for features. At its core, it uses Nuance, the same voice recognition tech as Siri, so it should understand you no matter how you phrase your questions. Ziggy’s also got a penchant for geeky film trivia, too.

Fruit Ninja£2.29
The best games are the simplest. Fruit Ninja, which has already had about 9 bazillion downloads on the iPhone and Android, proves that. It’s no different on Windows Phone, although it does have the added benefit of Xbox achievements, which means you can brag to your friends about just how many of your five a day you’ve chopped up.

Pano£2.29
Award-winning Windows Phone app that takes your phone’s camera by the balls and teaches it one major new trick: the ability to take panoramic photographs of your surroundings. Simply hold your phone up and slowly pan round – the app’ll do the rest.

Survivalcraft£2.49
An absolutely incredible Minecraft clone with nearly every key detail intact and a top-notch (pun intended) control scheme. The developer is really on it with updates, constantly adding new features and improvements. Warning: despite the flagrant intellectual property infringement, this fully deserves its spot in the list of best Windows Phone apps – it could eat up your life.

Dictionary.comFree
You know that book that’s full of words and their definitions? This is a bit like that, but in an app on your phone. The Metro look isn’t exactly in full force, but it does allow for speedy access and searching. Dictionary.com also gives you a word of the day, to help you aggrandise your imbued phraseology.

gMaps Pro£1.49
Bing Maps does a decent job of things in terms of basic navigation, but it does miss some of the key additions that Google Maps offers. On top of the Google Maps experience, you also get the ability to send a pre-formatted text with your location to friends.

Flux£1.49
A slick RRS reader with the ability to pin different feeds to your Start screen to see what unread posts you have, as well as offline reading with cached pictures. Incremental Sync downloads just the important info, so as to save on your precious data allowance.

BoxFiles£0.99
While we await an official Windows Phone Dropbox app, BoxFiles remains the best DropBox client for Windows Phone. The full, paid-up version gives you access to all of your files, as well as the ability to upload any file from anywhere inside your phone. Need quick access to something? You can pin files or folders to the Start screen.

EverNoteFree
You may be bored of tech websites telling you to start using Evernote, but you really should. It’s for far more than just taking notes; it’s the best way to keep your thoughts, your to-dos and your lists all organised across multiple devices. Write a not on your phone, pick it up on your computer from exactly where you left off.

RAC TrafficFree
A route-planner with live traffic info, which keeps you updated as you go. Pin a route to the start screen for a quick glance at any trouble on your route. If the roads are all free and easy, you can let it take you the entire way using Bing Maps. A fine alternative to Nokia Drive for those of you rocking Windows Phones from the likes of Samsung, HTC and LG.

ShazamFree
The de facto app for song hunting is still the best. Point Shazam towards the mysterious sounds and it’ll duly identify it for you, before providing you with links to watch the artist’s videos on YouTube, buy the track from the Zune Marketplace, learn the lyrics and read reviews. You get five free tags a month. Want more? Upgrade to Shazam Encore (£4.99).

SkyMap£1.29SkyMap uses your location and your phone’s compass to figure out what patch of empty nothingness you’re looking up at, before pinning digital representations of the night sky to your screen. Handy for anyone who lives in the city and hasn’t seen anything but passing planes and faint orange glow in the night sky for a while.

Rail Planner£4.99
It’s expensive, but that’s the price you pay for the privilege of having National Rail’s entire system in your phone. The official app’s got departure and arrival times, route planners and live information – you know, so you can see how many of the things are delayed.

Next Bus UK£1.49
With info for over 37,000 UK bus stops, this is the go-to app for anyone at the mercy of public transport. Next Bus gives you a live feed of which buses are coming next and where they’re headed. The best bit is that you can find your nearest bus and pin it as a live tile to the Start screen.

Pictures Lab£2.29
There’s no Instagram app for Windows Phone yet, but this more than fills the void, at least on the filters front, if not the sharing. Pictures Lab has over 30 preset editing tools and effects to tinker with, meaning that you should be able to add a bit of vintage fun to your shots in just a few clicks.

FlickrFree
Keep your life on Flickr? You’ll probably want this then. It’s free, for a start. The app actually uses its own camera, which makes formatting and uploading dead quick. You can also browse the whole of Flickr’s online library in-app. An essential Windows phone download for any serious mobile photographers.

Flashlight XTFree
Stuck in the dark woods? Burglarising someone’s house and can’t see what you’re doing? Just generally a bit scared of the dark? Use your phone’s camera flash as a torch with this. There’s no ads, no cost and it starts up pretty much instantly. What more do you want?

SkyDriveFree
Microsoft’s own-brand, home-cooked answer to DropBox is pretty sound. It works an absolute charm with both your photos and Office Documents, freeing up valuable space on your handset’s hard drive, as well as keeping them safe in case you drop it down the toilet. The service has been built into Windows Phone since day one, but this new standalone app lets you better access and organise all of your files from the cloud.

My EncyclopediaFree
A neatly put-together Wikipedia app that ties all the world’s knowledge into an easy to navigate slab of worldly goodness. It’s slicker than Wiki’s mobile site by far and, crucially, it lets you save pages to your handset to read offline. Go forth and learn.

Scores! 2011-12£1.49
Some apps on Windows Phone make you really appreciate the idea behind Live Tiles. This is one. Scores brings you live updates and info on goals as they happen, right on the tile itself, so you can check what’s going on without burying yourself on your phone. Good for weddings, funerals and the like.

BBC News MobileFree
Like the Guardian app, the BBC news feed has different categories that can be pinned to the Start screen for live tile info. It’s actually an unofficial Auntie app (it’s not from the Beeb), but it’s as polished and well designed as anything you’d get from the real source.

Tesco GroceriesFree
Tesco’s official app lets you compile your weekly shop, choose a delivery slot and book it, all from the comfort of your phone. It’s neatly organised and – just like the website – lets you store your previous shops for quick re-ordering. The Metro UI look keeps things pleasingly visual, too.

FredaFree
A solid eBook reader for e-Pub, HTML and .txt documents. You can change the font size and colour as well as the background. The best bit, though, is how it can integrate with both SkyDrive and Dropbox, allowing you to store your books in the cloud to save on phone space.

PC MonitorFree
Seriously cool tool for the PC geek in you. This app hooks up to your home or work PC, letting you check on or kill running tasks, turn the machine off (you know, if you’ve left it on), view and edit the current CPU usage and more. You’ve got a Windows Phone – it’s high time you introduced it to your Windows computer.

AllrecipesFree
Ever-growing list of top recipes, complete with pictures. Search by food type or what ingredients you have. Or you could just receive the daily recipe Live Tile notification for some inspiration. You have to put up with the occasional ad, but otherwise it’s free.

Slacker RadioFree
Slacker is like having an eager-to-please DJ stuffed in your pocket, desperate to make you happy. Select one of the 150 genre music stations and it’ll start streaming to your ears. As each song plays, tell it what you do and don’t like to tailor the experience. You should end up with nonstop music nirvana.

AudioBoo£0.79
AudioBoo started as a way to aid citizen journalism – the service acts a bit like Twitter for audio recordings. Download it, make your account and begin broadcasting your thoughts to the world, as long as they’re less than 5 minutes in length. The best bit is listening to others’ though: there are thoughtful interviews alongside mad drunk men recorded on busses.

Amazon MobileFree
Are you of the opinion that it’s not damn easy enough to part with your cash already? Get the Amazon app. Along with 1-click purchasing and the ability to browse the entire store, it’s also got a built-in barcode scanner, so you can hunt for cheaper prices while out in the real world.

PC RemoteFree
Control Windows Media Centre, Powerpoint presentations, YouTube, volume and more. PC Remote pairs your Windows Phone up with your Windows PC to provide pretty seamless control. You can even use it as a mouse and keyboard, which is perfect for media centre PCs connected to a TV.

GrouponFree
The thing about Groupon is that you often need to be out and about in order to pick up the daily deals. It makes perfect sense as an app, then, and works pretty damn wel on Windows Phone. The integration with Bing maps is key, helping you seek out your cheap tanning session or discounted sushi on the go.

Photo CropFree
Bet you can’t figure out what Photo Crop lets you do. Stumped? It lets you crop photos! You can also rotate or flip pictures and then save them to a new album. A simple tool, then, but a handy one. It’s also free, so there’s nothing not to love.

Sonic 4 Episode 1£5.49
If we’re putting games on the list we definitely need to have Sonic 4. It is a wee bit on the expensive side (even for the generally pricey Windows Phone Marketplace), but it’s Sonic, it’s new and it has some really class level design. Episode 2 is on the way soon, so get this one under your belt and completed sharpish – the final boss is a stupendous challenge.

The Harvest£5.49
One of the best Windows Phone apps out there, and the flagship launch game for Windows Phone’s Xbox LIVE skills. It’s a top notch action RPG in the Killzone, Halo and Gears of War mould, except top-down for better control. It’s a really meaty challenge; prepare to sink hours into it.

WeatherMaster£1.49
WeatherMeter fills the gap left by the absence of an official Windows Phone weather app with a highly detailed 7-day forecast service. You can add as many cities as you like and then pin them to the Start screen for instant weather info. It’s pretty in-depth, too; you get far more than just temperature here.

TwitterFree
The official Twitter app does a fine job of incorporating the Metro design philosophy, which makes it really stand out from its iPhone and Android contemporaries. It still boasts all the features you’d expect though, as well as the option to view it in a light or dark theme. Dark is easier on the eyes.

VLC Play!£1.99
Got lots of VLC content on your computer? Get this. VLC Play! allows you to rummage round your VLC files stored on your PC, as well as control the playback and view artwork on your WP7 handset. Think of it like a remote control, but only for VLC Player stuff.

Rocket Riot£3.99
8-bit charm abounds in this official Microsoft-produced title. The aim? Rocket around the day-glo landscape killing everyone else in sight. There’s no multiplayer as yet, but the single player challenge is addictive and furious enough for that not to matter.

WhatsAppFree
No one likes being out of the loop. Thankfully WhatsApp for Windows Phone has landed, plugging all the gaps in the smartphone, erm… sink. The app lets you send messages over 3G or WiFi to any other smartphone with WhatsApp installed. Think of it like BBM, except cross-platform, so you can talk to your mates with some common sense as well.

PenguinFree
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? If that’s true then Tiny Wings should consider itself extremely flattered. Penguin is a straight clone of the hill-sliding game, exchanging the cute-if-deformed avian for the titular flightless ice bird. It’s fun and it’s free.

TaptitudeFree
Taptitude is a stupidly addictive mix of over 50 mini-games that test both your mental prowess and the speediness of your agile digits. The best bit is the fact that a new game gets added every single week – that’s pretty good value for a free app. Just watch out for the onset of RSI.

MetroFree
Like it or loathe it as a paper, you can’t argue with free. The Metro’s official app brings all its daily finings to your phone in fine Metro style. As with the Guardian app, you can pin certain sub-sections to your Start Screen for quick access. What the Guardian doesn’t offer? A healthy dose of pictures of animals on top of animals and houses made from Lego, every single day.

FlixsterFree
Flixter’s a bit like iMDB, but it’s really good at pointing you towards cinema times for your local mega-multiplex. The winning feature on Windows Phone is that avid movie goers can pin their local Cinema to the Start Screen, for lightning fast access to times.

Cool ToolsFree
Windows Phone is a very polished OS and no mistake, but it does lack a few stock features that are baked into its rivals iOS and Android. Cool Tools fixes that by gifting your phone a stopwatch, timer, unit converter, flashlight and more in one tidy package.

Toilet FinderFree
Caught short out in the wider world? Toilet Finder does exactly what its name suggests. Let it find where exactly you are in the world and it’ll speedily guide you to the nearest of over 60,000 global public toilets via Bing Maps. Handy for the hurried and bowel-troubled.

WikitudeFree
Bored of your surroundings? There’s a wealth of knowledge in them there hills – you just need to know how to find it. Hold Wikitude aloft and, using your phone’s camera, it’ll show you interesting Wikipedia articles, restaurant reviews, points of interest and even local tweets.

Lottery ResultsFree
While we’d argue that not knowing is better than the inevitable realisation that your numbers have amounted to nothing, this app aims to end the mystery by providing results for 335 worldwide lotteries. Find the one you’ve played and pin it to the Start screen for a push notification of the numbers.

Calorie TrackerFree
Feeling a year-round bloat after Christmas? Need to shed some pounds? Tracking what you eat is the best way to scare yourself thin. The Livestrong Calorie Tracker has a database of over 625,000 food items. Search for it, select it and your daily calorie tally will take it into account.

Tango ChatFree
We’re all waiting for Microsoft’s Skype buyout to come good in the form of an app for Windows Phone 7, but in the mean time there’s the perfectly adequate Tango Chat. Tango offers all the same video calling services as Skype, the only downside being that you’ll need to be talking to someone who also has tango Chat installed. That, and you won’t be able to make much use of it on the Lumia 800, since it omits a front facing camera. Eep.

Ringtone FactoryFree
Anyone sick to the back teeth of the stock Windows ringtones needs to check this out. Ringtone Factory has a library of thousands of songs for you to download and tinker with. Ringtones can either be the first 30 seconds of a song or, conveniently, a custom section as defined by you.

YapfFree
Yapf is a pretty comprehensive business searcher that bests Bing Maps for two reasons: firstly, you can send the place as a text message (ideal for letting people know where you are), and secondly because you can guide yourself there using the wondrous powers of augmented reality.

Security Toolkit£2.29
Paranoid- sorry… worried about break-ins? Turn your Windows Phone handset into a mobile security camera with this app and connected PC suite. Set up your phone and it’ll come alive if it detects motion, recording the villain in question and emailing you, where you can watch on your computer.

Sticky TilesFree
Having a notes app is all well and good, but sometimes you need to be reminded to do something more than once. Sometimes you need to remind yourself ‘Pay bill’ or ‘buy milk’ every time you turn on your phone. Sticky Tiles lets you do just that – write a small reminder and pin it to the Start Screen. Simple idea, but one of the best Windows Phone apps available.

Reading GlassesFree
Never sign anything until you’ve read the fine print. If that happens to be so fine that you can’t actually make it out, you probably need this app. Reading Glasses acts as a magnifying glass, enlarging text using the phone’s camera. May also be good for finding clues; footprints and the like…

Adobe ReaderFree
A fairly obligatory download, this – especially if you use your phone for email a lot, which we guess most Windows Phone users do. You’ll need Adobe Reader installed to view any PDFs you get sent or come across online. It doesn’t do a whole lot more than that, but trust us: you need it installed.

NetflixFree
For the time being this is US-only, but it’s a much-needed app for anyone paying their monthly Netflix subscription. The app gives you full access to the slew of movies and TV series on Netflix to watch over 3G or WiFi.

Google SearchFree
Now, don’t get us wrong here: Bing is great. Now that it finally has image search built in it’s a top notch alternative, but old habits die hard. Anyone feeling the Google itch can have it scratched by this official app, which brings fully-featured Google mobile searching to your Windows phone handset.

ESPNFree
US giant ESPN’s banged one out of the park here, with a heavily stocked sports app covering just about every sport, league and game you can imagine all on the fly. Goals, scores, news, video and analysis are all in here on a live, push notified basis. Get it.

RunkeeperFree
Runkeeper does the same job as Endomondo (also in this list), but you may prefer the stylings and user interface of this instead. Or you might already be a Runkeeper account holder if you’ve come from another sort of handset. It’s horses for courses. Or, in this case, run tracking apps for Windows Phone users.

BBC Radio Player£0.99
A really well put together app from the Beeb that gives you acces to 74 radio stations vie 3G or WiFi. The stations play in the background on Mango phones and you can pin your favourite stations to the Start screen. Living in the US? Not a problem; this app works Stateside too. Huzzah!

NewsSpot£1.49
NewsSpot is a hghly competent Google Reader client that lets you download content for offline reading. Plumb in your account details and it’ll proffer you a clean, organised feed of your RSS feeds. As well as offline viewing there’s also the ability to search saved articles and share via Facebook or Twitter.

Flight Control£2.29
The gumf says that Flight Control only takes a minute to learn. We’d agree, but it takes a hell of a lot longer than that to tear yourself away. The hugely addictive plane-landing puzzler has lost nothing in its transfer to Windows Phone, but gained some Xbox LIVE goodness.

The Sims 3£5.49
Do you long to control people? Do you wish that you had an alternate life where you could live out your weird, fetishistic fantasies? The Sims 3 is for you. The graphics and controls transfer really well, making this a genuine life-drainer of a mobile game.

Pocket God£2.29
Ah, Pocket God; the only mobile phone game (aside from maybe the Sims 3) that lets you really find out who you are. And by that we mean: are you a good person or a completely evil little sh*te. Your little islanders are yours to control, torment or help as you see fit. Please be nice to them. Please.

Mini Squadron£2.29
Mini Squadron is an addictive little flight game in which you take control of a small plane vying for survival in the skies. There’s bags of enemies to shoot down or otherwise avoid, a huge amount of appeal in the cartoon style and the controls are all pretty slick. Great in short bursts between train stops.

Doodle Jump£2.29
One of the first games for the iPhone to really gain notoriety is equally one of the best Windows Phone apps. The endlessly addictive Doodle Jump translates perfectly to Windows Phone. Guide Doodle up the infinite set of floating platforms, avoiding aliens and trying not to fall off the screen – it’s maddeningly simple.

ExpensifyFree
The perfect tool for anyone who struggles pulling their expenses together. The process is mostly seamless: sync your bank cards on the Expensify website and it’ll auto-log your transactions. Making cash purchases? Use your phone’s camera to scan in the receipt.

IM+ ProFree
In lieu of an official Skype Windows Phone app, this is the next best thing. Admittedly there’s no video calling, but IM+ does let you compile multiple accounts from the likes of Skype, Facebook, Yahoo and Google. Synced accounts can then be accessed to do single or group chats, including picture messaging.

EpicuriousFree
Epicurious has a lot of recipes. Like, over 30,000. You can search by the ingredients you have, it’ll help you build a shopping list or just guide you through the cooking process. Many of the professionally compiled foods on offer boast video guides, too.

Tetris£3.99
It’s probably not worth our valuable keyboard-tapping energy to even bother explaining Tetris. It’s Tetris. You know, the game with the blocks. It’s quite popular, you’ve probably played it before. This is it on your phone. With the blocks. You know; Tetris. Just download it, yeah?

GeoReminderFree
Siri for the iPhone lets you set a reminder and pin it to a certain place. This app works exactly like that. For example, set a reminder to buy milk when you leave work, and the app will let you pin that reminder to a certain spot on Bing Maps. Pass through it and your phone will buzz you. Simple.

Simple Budget£0.79
You’re sick of getting to the end of every month without a bean to your name. You want to do something about it, but don’t want to go near a spreadsheet. Trust us: budgeting on your phone makes it so much easier. Divide your cash up into separate chunks for separate things, add expenditures as you go and you’ll be fine come payday.

Open TableFree
Find a local restaurant based on reviews and get your booking in online through your phone. The online booking procedure for Open Table can take a while to confirm, but luckily you can pin your booking to the Start Screen, which’ll give you a push notification when it gets sorted.

Carbon£1.49
Hands down one of the best Windows Phone apps out there. A very sexy Twitter client with some really killer features. First off: you can view pictures inline without having to leave the feed. Same goes for quick replies. Carbon’s finest moment, though, is the ability to pin the ‘compose’ option to the Start Screen, which means you can compose a tweet without having to enter the app.

Stop the Music!Free
This is a simple tool, but then they’re often the best. StM performs one job: it completely halts the background music, removing the track from the volume bar. It’s not a make or break feature, but having a song lodged in the phone’s background can be annoying – without this app your only option is to reboot the phone.

6 Week TrainingFree
A genuine gem of a free Windows Phone app, this. The six week plan will take you by the scrawny shoulders and guide you through a month and a half of training for situps, pushups, chinups, dips or squats. Work out your starting point and it’ll try and get you to be able to bash out 100 by the end of the course.

Where’s the note-taking app?! How about the One Note app that comes by default – it’s brilliant!

Anonymous

Hey Midnight – it is good! We’ve not included apps that come by default however, as excellent as some of them are. We have included some that you can only get with certain brands, such as Nokia Drive however.

http://twitter.com/Laley60Laley laley

Wp7 the most boring OS

Subash

Fuck off

Anonymous

Fuck OFF.

Anonymous

Fuck OFF.

Anonymous

Yet, it takes you a lot of time to create new accounts so you can keep trolling what you think is the most boring smartphone OS. What does that tell us about you? And Windows Phone..

Anonymous

tells us he has a fatal attraction kind of a wp7 stalker that aims to debase it because he was abused sexually with a windows phone?

Anonymous

That would explain a lot..

Anonymous

tells us he has a fatal attraction kind of a wp7 stalker that aims to debase it because he was abused sexually with a windows phone?

http://www.facebook.com/anukapri Anil Kapri

You R Absolutely WRONG. Have You ever tried mango 7? gone are those days when there was something called WP 6.0.

http://www.facebook.com/anukapri Anil Kapri

You R Absolutely WRONG. Have You ever tried mango 7? gone are those days when there was something called WP 6.0.

http://www.facebook.com/anukapri Anil Kapri

You R Absolutely WRONG. Have You ever tried mango 7? gone are those days when there was something called WP 6.0.

http://www.facebook.com/anukapri Anil Kapri

You R Absolutely WRONG. Have You ever tried mango 7? gone are those days when there was something called WP 6.0.

Anonymous

Wot, no Rowi? IMO best Twitter client for Windows Phone. Thanks for putting this list together.

Anonymous

No problem – we’ll check it out, but loving Carbonite right now.

Anonymous

Wot, no Rowi? IMO best Twitter client for Windows Phone. Thanks for putting this list together.

markiz

4th & Mayor is a lot better than the official 4square app.
Sports tracker is better than endomondo.
Nokia drive DOES have offline maps, and it’s super easy to download them.

You missed CleverToDo, Livescape, Weave, and GoVoice! And, from the homebrew side, Folders is a must (if you can unlock your device!).

http://twitter.com/UnkaEddie Eddie Kay

You missed CleverToDo, Livescape, Weave, and GoVoice! And, from the homebrew side, Folders is a must (if you can unlock your device!).

Anonymous

They should update this list so I have more time to spend after I get my lumia 900 cyan

Anonymous

Oh we will, rest assured!

Anonymous

They should update this list so I have more time to spend after I get my lumia 900 cyan

Maybe Later

physi bricks is an excellent little game, try it, Its free!

Maybe Later

physi bricks is an excellent little game, try it, Its free!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1412410925 David Scanlan

Physi bricks is good. As is Rotago, as long as you have someone to play with

Eurusfaeriewillow

Cartridge is the best platformer game for WP7, download it because it’s not only awesome in the sense of Super Mario Bros but it is free too.

John

In addition to Survivalcraft, Cartridge is an awesome clone of Super Mario Bros.

http://withwindows.com Ricky Shah

There are plenty of applications which deserved to be in the list. Some of the notable apps like WP7Applist, I’m a WP7!, AppFlow,Flux,JotPad,Next Browser,Mehdoh,Rowi,WizTiles are missing.

Overall, it is a good list. It will definitely help new adopters of Windows Phone to determine which app to be installed without much hassle.

http://withwindows.com Ricky Shah

There are plenty of applications which deserved to be in the list. Some of the notable apps like WP7Applist, I’m a WP7!, AppFlow,Flux,JotPad,Next Browser,Mehdoh,Rowi,WizTiles are missing.

Overall, it is a good list. It will definitely help new adopters of Windows Phone to determine which app to be installed without much hassle.

Mn

Any list that claims that the official twitter and foursquare apps are the best is definitely not a lot worth trusting. You obviously didn’t do your homework, because these apps are great examples of how NOT to build wp7 apps.

Aceofspades25

LOL @ Guardian – “News for the far left”

How about news for the educated?

Anonymous

I hadn’t noticed that – I think that definitely needs to be addressed! I would hardly call The Guardian far left, but if you’re going for political leanings then why not add ‘far right’ to the Sky News app?

Call of duty elite app please its been out 2 months on other operating systems

Chris Lee

WP7 comes with a built-in note taker: the OneNote app in the Office Hub. Too bad it’s not obvious to the average new user…

Chris Lee

WP7 comes with a built-in note taker: the OneNote app in the Office Hub. Too bad it’s not obvious to the average new user…

Schosarah

tx for loads of cool tips for my new Lumia! But check out Razor Sharp! It’s a free book, audio book and really scary clever horror
story. Looks like they are putting out more in the next few months too. And did I mention free! No ads – nothing!
Better quality than kindle or ibook! But big downside – not available on
anywhere else but windows phones. Also, Nokia Drive!

Schosarah

tx for loads of cool tips for my new Lumia! But check out Razor Sharp! It’s a free book, audio book and really scary clever horror
story. Looks like they are putting out more in the next few months too. And did I mention free! No ads – nothing!
Better quality than kindle or ibook! But big downside – not available on
anywhere else but windows phones. Also, Nokia Drive!